We have already established what a great year 2021 has been for anime in general. But somehow, this year went even beyond and further than that. This was the year where it truly felt like either all of our favourite anime titles hit the big screens or got a movie announcement that are in the works for the upcoming year.
The Quintessential Quintuplets will be concluding its story with a movie that is scheduled to be out in May 2022 in Japan, while That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime will be continuing its story on one that is going to be released in Fall 2022.
Black Clover will also be coming out of hiatus with an anime film in 2022, while beloved Shonen Jump title, One Piece, will be getting a movie centred around Shanks this coming year. There is so much to look forward to for the next year, and there was so much to relish from this year when it comes to Anime on the big screens.
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This year, the world got to experience the final film from the Evangelion Rebuild series, which was eight years in the making. The movie was a massive success in the box office and among the critics, as you’d expect from the Eva franchise and is also probably on everyone’s list for the Best Anime Movies of 2021.
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time is the highest-grossing film in Japan for 2021, making over $102.8 million in the Japanese Box Office.
Meanwhile, Detective Conan still remains as popular as ever. The latest movie in the franchise, Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet, made over $76 million in the domestic box office, and was the second biggest blockbuster of 2021 in Japan. Detective Conan also took the 10th spot in the list, with The Scarlet Bullet’s predecessor, The Scarlet Alibi making over $12.4 million in the box office.
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Belle is the third highest-grossing film in the Japanese Box Office for 2021 and is the first anime film on the list that doesn’t have a television anime adaptation. The fantasy movie comes from Studio Chizu, who also brought us 2012’s Wolf Children and has been hailed by many as the Best Anime Movie of 2021. You can watch the trailer below.
The Jujutsu Kaisen 0 Movie is 4th on the list, with the anime movie already grossing over $35.5 million in the Japanese Box Office in less than a week after its release. The film is a prequel to the Jujutsu Kaisen anime series and is based on Volume 0 of the manga that follows Yuuta Okkotsu in his first year at Jujutsu Tech. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 sold 1.9 million tickets in the opening weekend and saw the second-biggest opening weekend ever in the Japanese Box Office grossing over $23 million.
My Hero Academia is 5th on the list with its recent film instalment, World Heroes Mission. Unlike Jujutsu Kaisen and Evangelion though, World Heroes Mission doesn’t exactly tie in with the events of the anime series and exists as its own thing. The film has also made over $9 million in the American Box Office apart from the $33 million at the domestic box office.
The final Gintama movie, which is quite literally titled Gintama: The Final, is seventh on the list, making over $18.7 million in the Box Office. And the latest entry in the Sword Art Online franchise, Sword Art Online The Movie: Progressive – Aria of a Starless Night, took the 9th spot grossing over $13.2 million domestically. The movie was also released in the United States and Canada alongside other western countries earlier this month.
Top 10 Highest-Grossing Anime Movies of 2021:
- Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time; $102,800,000
- Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet; $76,500,000
- Belle; $65,300,000
- Jujutsu Kaisen 0; $35,520,000
- My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission; $33,700,000
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway; $22,000,000
- Gintama: The Final; $18,700,000
- Crayon Shin-chan: Shrouded in Mystery! The Flowers of Tenkazu Academy; $17,700,000
- Sword Art Online The Movie: Progressive – Aria of a Starless Night; $13,200,000
- Detective Conan: The Scarlet Alibi; $12,400,000.
Source: Pixiin.
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What do you think are some of the Best Anime Movies of 2021? Comment below and let us know your picks for Best Anime Movies of the year that was 2021.